Shelford environment news
Environment headlines include:
-
The local company providing solar panels, air-conditioning and battery storage
-
The easy-to-read guide about how to use your new food recycling bins
-
Shelford and Stapleford environment news
TFM Renewables
Solar Panels, Battery Storage & Air Conditioning — from a trusted local team
At TFM Renewables, we help homeowners make the most of their homes and their energy — whether that means generating your own electricity with solar, storing more of it in a battery, or making your home more comfortable with air conditioning.
We’re a long-standing local business, trading in and around the Shelfords since 2014. We’re not a national call centre or a doorstep sales operation. We live and work locally, and we’re here when you need us — before, during and long after your installation.
Five reasons homeowners choose TFM Renewables
1. Local since 2014 — and still here when you need us
We’ve been running businesses in and around the Shelfords for more than a decade. So when you choose TFM, you’re choosing a local team who will be around to look after you after the installation is complete.
We’re proud of our local reputation, and much of our work comes through recommendations from existing customers and their neighbours.
2. Straightforward advice, based on your home
Every home is different. That’s why we take the time to look at your roof, understand how you use energy and consider your actual electricity bills before recommending anything.
We’ll give you realistic figures for potential savings and payback, and we’ll be honest about whether battery storage is likely to be worthwhile for your household.
If something doesn’t make sense for your home, we’ll tell you.
3. A clear price, with the important things included
We believe getting a quote for your home should be straightforward — and there shouldn’t be unpleasant surprises later.
Our solar installations include the important extras, including scaffolding, DNO notification, MCS certification, building control and 12 months of aftercare.
We’ll explain what’s included, so you can compare quotes on a like-for-like basis. The cheapest quote isn’t always the cheapest option once the extras start appearing.
4. Our own team, from start to finish
When you choose TFM, you deal with our own team throughout. We don’t pass your installation on to subcontractors.
From your initial visit through to installation and handover, you’ll know who you’re dealing with and who is responsible for the work.
We take pride in every installation we complete — because our name is on it, and we want you to be happy with the result.
5. Properly accredited, with independent backing
We carry out all electrical works with NICEIC certification - we do this with local company Neaves electrical, providing a full home solution
TFM Renewables is accredited through MCS, NICEIC, RECC and HIES.
These aren’t simply badges on a website. They involve standards, checks and ongoing requirements designed to give homeowners confidence that they’re dealing with an established, properly accredited installer.
No pressure. No obligation. Just honest advice.
Choosing solar, battery storage or air conditioning is a big decision for most households. You should have the chance to understand your options without feeling pressured into making a decision.
We’ll look at your home, answer your questions and explain what we think would work best for you.
Then the choice is yours.
Your home. Your energy. Your choice.
Whether you want to generate more of your own electricity, make better use of the energy you produce, reduce your reliance on the grid, or simply make your home more comfortable throughout the year, we’re here to help.
TFM Renewables
Local expertise. Honest advice. Renewable energy and air conditioning, done properly — with a clear and transparent price.
What our customers say
★★★★★ 5.0 overall on Google
“John designed, supplied, installed aircon and heat for the top floor of our semi. He was constantly positive and followed up with after-install visits… The installers were friendly, knowledgeable and kept an impeccably clean site. Both provided and kept to accurate schedules. I have happily referred them to neighbours and friends. They were the easiest part of our full renovation. I will be re-engaging them for solar panels.”
— Peter, Great Shelford
“Really great job, system works very well and quality of installation was first class. Have recommended to friends already. Air con powered by solar, perfect :)”
— Gary, Harston
John Rush
Director
Office: 0800 698 3073
Email: sales@tfm.services
Web: tfmrenewables.com/
Paid-for words posted September 2026
TFM Renewables in action installing solar panels at the Three Horseshoes pub in Stapleford
Great Shelford kitchen caddy guide
All households across South Cambridgeshire are receiving a new weekly food waste collection service.
Great Shelford residents have received a small indoor kitchen caddy to collect food waste in.
You’ll receive a larger outdoor caddy for collection which should be placed next to your other bins on collection day starting on October 12. . The outdoor caddies are animal-proof with lockable handles. Keep the lids closed and avoid overfilling to help stop the chance of it tipping over.
You’ll receive a starter roll of caddy liners. While these are plastic, they do not affect the processing of the food waste as they are removed in the first stage of treatment.
Plastic liners help prevent mess and smells and they are also a cost-effective option. When you have finished the roll of liners provided, the Council will not provide more.
You can use any liner in your caddy (including 'compostable plastic' ones available in shops), or none if you prefer. If you're using plastic liners, you must be able to see the food waste through the liner so the caddy crew can see that no other waste is inside.
Home composting is still encouraged, but using the food waste caddy lets you recycle items like meat, fish, bones, cooked food, and dairy, which shouldn’t be composted at home as they attract vermin.
This additional service will help boost recycling rates and reduce the amount of food sent to landfill. Food in landfill produces methane, a greenhouse gas, so using this new service is an important step we can all take to limit climate change.
The weekly collection dates will show on your bin collection calendar.
What you can put in your food waste caddy
You can recycle the following with the new food waste collection service:
• all uneaten food and plate scrapings
• raw and cooked food (including mouldy food)
• fruit and vegetables (including peelings)
• meat and fish (including bones)
• dairy (cheese, eggs, eggshells, yoghurt)
• bread, cakes, pastries, rice, pasta
• tea bags and coffee grounds
• tissues / kitchen roll.
Please do not put the following in your caddy:
• packaging of any kind (including ‘compostable plastic’ plates, cups etc.)
• liquids such as milk
• oil or liquid fat
• anything else that is not food waste.
Once your weekly food waste service has started, you should stop putting food waste in the green bin. You can use your green bin if you have missed a collection and do not have capacity in your outdoor caddy until the next collection. Windfall fruit counts as garden waste and can stay in the green bin, but be aware that heavy bins can trigger the lorry’s weight sensor and prevent them being emptied.
Where your food waste will go
Food waste will be taken to an Anaerobic Digestion (AD) Plant. This is a separate facility from where your garden waste will be composted.
At the plant, caddy liners are mechanically removed and used as a fuel to generate energy, and the food is broken down in the treatment process without oxygen present. This creates biogas which is captured to generate electricity. Fertiliser is also produced, which is used in farming.
Weekly food waste collections explainer
Posted May 12 2026
Great Shelford environmental news
Hopefully it’s a bit cooler now it’s October. If you were thinking in the heatwaves of buying new fans, shutters, or other ways to keep your house cool, now’s the time to do it, don’t wait till next May when the suppliers sell out. Even simple things help - we certainly found hanging white sheets on the outside of sunny windows reduced the temperature in the room a few degrees.
People’s Emergency Briefing – you will recall I have written in previous articles about the National Emergency Briefing on Climate and Nature that was held last November, to which many politicians, business people, civil servants, representatives from churches and civil groups and others were invited. A number of expert speakers talked about the risk of climate change to national security, health, food security, agriculture, the economy, and other aspects of life in the UK. The Government has suggested we all stock up on a few days’ worth of tinned food and bottled water in case of wildfires, floods, or cyberattacks. There is now a film made covering the points in the briefings, and there have been several local showings. We are holding one at Great Shelford Free Church on Tuesday 17 November at 7.30 pm, with a panel to answer your questions afterwards. Free to attend but you need to book a seat in advance. Here's the booking link: tickettailor.com/events/shelfordcommunityevent/2370719
Repair Café – if you missed the one in September, the next one of these will be on Saturday 21 November in St Mary’s Church Hall in Sawston from 2pm to 5pm. To book a slot go on the CCF (Cambridge Carbon Footprint) website and click on Repair Cafes. Our repairers can mend all sorts of things, or at least will be able to tell you if an item can be repaired or not. And there’s always tea and cake! And all for a small donation.
Don’t forget Dr Bike continues to hold its volunteer-run weekly bike repair sessions at the Old Slaughterhouse in Stapleford, 3pm-5.30pm every Tuesday. It is also running one on Saturday 31 October, subject to demand. Please let us know if you are intending to bring a bike to the Saturday workshop. For more information and to book a slot, contact drbikestapleford@gmail.com. You can donate by card as well as by cash. Bring your children with their bikes, they can learn simple necessary maintenance jobs from the volunteers. In fact, as we always plan to have at least two adults on duty at every session, older children can bring their bike along without needing an accompanying adult.
You might wonder why environmentalists put such store on protecting endangered species, or looking after green spaces – people might say “it’s just a little bird in South America”, “it’s just a bit of scrubland”. Species are interlinked and balanced in a web, take out the top predator and you get a surge of herbivores. Take out birds and you get a glut of insects eating your crops. If there is nowhere for species to live they will die out. Besides, being in nature is very restorative to our mental health and reduces stress. Peat and trees hold carbon, saving it from adding to climate change. Vegetation soaks up pollution. Wetlands reduce flooding from rivers and rain by holding the water in the ground. Natural spaces support a rural economy. Thus in an uncertain future, nature isn’t an obstacle to development, but helps to build a more resilient future.
If you are interested in green matters and the environment, send an email to mail2G3S@gmail.com to sign up for our monthly newsletter, or to get more information about our meetings. We welcome anyone who wants to come along to one of our events or to find out more about how we can live sustainably. Also see our Facebook page and our website 2g3s.staplefordvillage.org.uk/. Helen Hale
Posted Sept 22 2026
What can go in my green bin?
Yes:
-
Garden waste, like grass cuttings and leaves
-
Untreated wood
-
Straw and sawdust
-
Food waste including meat, fish, dairy, cooked food, fruit and vegetable peelings. (Wrap them in paper bags or newspaper - not compostable 'plastic' bags)
-
Cooled wood ash, bagged in a paper sack
-
Used paper tissues and kitchen paper.
No:
-
Any plastic
-
Plastic type bags/sacks and biodegradable/compostable 'plastic' food waste bags
-
Cat or dog waste
-
Soil, stones or turf
-
Treated wood
-
Rubble
-
Loose ash of any kind, and coal ash
-
Batteries (inside the bin).
What can go in my blue bin?
Yes:
-
Paper, newspapers, magazines and envelopes
-
Cardboard
-
Cartons (for example, Tetra Pak)
-
Empty plastic bags (except black bin bags)
-
Non-metallic plastic packets or wrappers, for example: bread bags, pasta bags
-
Plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays (excluding any black plastic which cannot currently be recycled)
-
Food and drinks cans
-
Empty aerosols
-
Greetings cards
-
Wrapping paper (no metallic plastic)
-
Tinfoil and foil trays
-
Biscuit and sweet tins
-
Glass jars and bottles
-
Shredded paper (must be bagged in a paper or clean plastic bag).
Batteries must not be put inside bins as they cause fires in the lorries and at the waste and recycling site. To recycle household batteries including AA and AAA cells, button batteries, size C and D, put them in a small tied plastic bag and place it loosely on top of your blue, green or black bin lid.
No:
-
Food
-
Liquids
-
Nappies
-
Clothes, textiles or shoes (take to charity shops or clothing banks)
-
Expanded polystyrene or Styrofoam
-
Foam/sponge
-
Non-packaging plastic (for example, toys and bowls)
-
Metallic plastic wrappers e.g. crisp packets
-
Black bin bags
-
Recycling in plastic bags (except completely transparent ones)
-
Flat glass or mirrors
-
Pyrex
-
Kitchen paper and tissues
-
Dirty packaging
-
Paint tins
-
Batteries (inside the bin).
Posted June 12 2025
Sawston Greenway cycle route through Great Shelford and Stapleford
This map below shows the route for the Sawston Greenway through Great Shelford and Stapleford linking Sawston and Cambridge.
The section through Great Shelford and Stapleford, which forms the central part of the Sawston Greenway, was selected for early delivery (construction in 2023/2024). However, large scale utility upgrades by Cadent Gas were installed during this time which meant further road closures could not be undertaken, as diversion routes around the utility works would be affected. The early works through the villages will now be delivered from late winter 2024/early spring 2025.
A meeting with Great Shelford and Stapleford Parish Councils demonstrated a desire amongst parish councillors to see the early delivery of the whole of the section from Hinton Way, Mingle Lane and extend along the entire length of Church Street to London Road.
The diagram above shows the section being delivered as an early work (purple line) and the red circled area shows the extended works area being sought. It has been requested the GCP extend the current early works section to incorporate the southern section of Church Street and the London Road junction.
Posted Oct 29 2024
Links to other pages on Great Shelford Online
Great Shelford news
https://www.greatshelford.online/newsletter2024
Great Shelford events
www.greatshelford.online/events
Great Shelford businesses
www.greatshelford.online/businesses
Great Shelford community groups
www.greatshelford.online/community-groups
Great Shelford and East West Rail
www.greatshelford.online/east-west-rail
Well known people from Great Shelford
www.greatshelford.online/village-people
Great Shelford Parish Council
www.greatshelford.online/parish-council
Great Shelford health information
www.greatshelford.online/health
Great Shelford planning
www.greatshelford.online/planning
Great Shelford history
www.greatshelford.online/history
Great Shelford environment
www.greatshelford.online/environment
Great Shelford housing
www.greatshelford.online/housing
South Cambridgeshire District Council and Great Shelford
www.greatshelford.online/scambs
Our sister websites
The Little Shelford community website